Browsing by Author "Latham-Mintus, K."

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    Exploring Cumulative Disadvantage, Telomere Length, and Breast Cancer Among Black and White Women
    (Innovation in Aging, 2017) Latham-Mintus, K.; Weathers, T.; Irby-Shasanmi, A.; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Storniolo, A.; Robison, L.; Telomere Laboratory, I.
    Objectives: Cumulative disadvantage (CD) is a concept that recognizes the influence of social determinants on health over the lifecourse—emphasizing accumulated stressors as contributors to physiological damage. The shortening of telomeres has been found to have a direct relationship with increased cancer incidence and overall health. The purpose of this research is to develop a triangulated and biologically validated CD instrument to explore breast cancer disparities among Black and White women. Methods: We recruited a purposeful sample of 15 White and 15 Black pre-menopausal women (ages 25–50 years) who had donated normal tissue to the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank. Semi-structured qualitative interviews, designed to investigate participants’ exposure to lifetime stressors, were conducted. Drawing from the qualitative interviews and previous research, a quantitative survey instrument was developed to capture the range of stressors experienced by our sample of women. All respondents completed the quantitative survey and their telomere length was assessed using DNA extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. Results: Qualitative and quantitative assessments of CD were consistent across childhood, adult, and lifetime stressors. Black respondents reported more childhood stressors (t=-2.28, p=0.03), adult stressors (t=-1.87, p=0.07), and lifetime stressors (t=-2.17, p=0.04); however, there were no significant differences in subjective assessments of the perceived impact of stress on health. There was some evidence of shortened telomere length among Black respondents with more CD. Discussion: Preliminary analyses provide evidence of triangulation. Future research will further explore associations between CD and telomere length among a larger sample (N=100) of Black and White American women.
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    Racial differences in cumulative disadvantage among women and its relation to health: Development and preliminary validation of the CSI-WE
    (Mary Ann Liebert, 2022) Latham-Mintus, K.; Weathers, T. D.; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Irby-Shasanmi, A; Herbert, B. S.; Takana, H. Robison; Storniolo, A. M.
    Background: Cumulative disadvantage (CD) is a measure of accumulated social, economic, and person-related stressors due to unequal access to resources and opportunities, which increases a person's biological risk for disease. The purpose of this research was to develop an instrument tailored to women's experiences that had intervention and translational potential. In addition, we explored whether CD contributed to racial health disparities among black and white women. Methods: In-depth life course interviews were used to assess stressful experiences of 15 black and 15 white women. Using information from the interviews, we developed the Cumulative Stress Inventory of Women's Experiences (CSI-WE) as a quantitative instrument to measure stressful life experiences from childhood to adulthood. The CSI-WE was then administered to the original 30 women for validation and feedback. Results: Qualitative and quantitative assessments were highly correlated, which suggested that the CSI-WE reliably captured the experiences of the interviewed women. Black participants reported significantly higher numbers of childhood and adult stressors, more acute adulthood and lifetime stressors, and worse adult physical self-rated health. Conclusions: This study supports the preliminary validity of an instrument that once fully validated may be used in future studies to elucidate the experiences of CD among black and white women and examines how these experiences relate to perceived and objective health status.